The mistake I made was to forget about the galleys. I became so wrapped up in talking with many people that I had forgotten the “book” in Book Expo America. While I had a flight to catch in mere hours (I’m at JFK now), there was clearly no other option. Fill as many bags as I could, FedEx them back home, and get the hell out.

The funny thing about this is that if the books had been replaced with, say, a bank vault, this would have the element of despicable crime written all over it. But at BEA, it seems, this behavior is sanctioned, if not outright encouraged. One publicist who had “a big stack of galleys” waiting for me had the sense of humor to unload a colossal 1,400 page book (which I’ll end up reading of course, now that I can’t say no to a longass book).

This probably wouldn’t have happened had Sarah Weinman not been there. Sarah, besides maintaining a great blog, being a supernice person and being wise beyond her years, accompanied me as I talked with many more publicists and was good enough to put up with my fey enthusiasm and brio, which so overwhelmed me that, during some points, it took me more than a minute to introduce the publicist to Sarah (a sin for which I am now stewing in my own personal guilt).

It was Sarah who coined the term “drive-by galleying.” But it was also an effort to meet some of the remaining folks on the floor and get the lowdown on the titles. Curiously, some of them were hesitant about the audio thing. Which begs the question: why be a publicist if you’re afraid of a microphone that’s placed deliberately outside of eye contact so as to not frighten people off?

On Sunday, the floors were gradually dwindling. But people still milled about. There were last minute deals and, at the Farrar Strauss & Giroux table, all the marketing people were huddled around a table eating a bag of Doritos.

But Sarah went above and beyond the call of duty. She offered to FedEx the bags of books back to me. It was Sarah who reminded me that I had a plane to catch. It was Sarah who whittled the bibliophile in me down to brute pragmatism. And for this I remain not only grateful, but indebted. Rest assured the gesture shall be paid in kind. That’s the kind of person she is, and if you haven’t read her blog or met her in person, you’re missing out.

I’m still sitting on an incredible amount of information to process. I have a small time window before my flight. So in lieu of a summary, I’m going to use the time to talk with more people. The rest will have to wait upon my return to San Francisco. (However, if JFK has a wireless connection I can use, I’ll do some posting from there if I have the time.)

* * *

I have the complete scoop on David Foster Wallace’s Consider the Lobster directly from DFW’s editor/head publisher himself. Watch these pages.

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There was also an unexpected meeting between me and somebody else. It wasn’t Tanenhaus, but the results will be here in visual and audio form. Needless to say, you might be surprised.

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Dale Peck, believe it or not, has a children’s book coming out through Bloomsbury.

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Megan and I spoke with Chronicle Book Review Editor Oscar Villalon at the PGW party and he gave me a great idea to improve the state of book review coverage in the nation. The insane scheme will probably be unearthed here and at Bookdwarf.

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Maud Newton is a standout lady. And all the bloggers I met here proved to be fantastic people. If you’re ever in New York, I highly recommend hooking up with these folks.

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Cake?

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Moleskine junkies: They’ve got a new product. It’s a reporter’s notebook, which means that the binding is at the top. Still has the pocket and it’s been proving quite handy. Moleskine was kind enough to get me a copy. Certain Moleskine addicts managed to walk away with considerably more. I’m not naming names.

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Whoever created the ridiculous Subtalk ads on the subway is a genius. They are quite comically alarmist. One, for instance, has a man gripping the outside part of a closed subway door, and hanging on as the subway moves. The ad declares in bold letters: “This man might lose his life!” Either New York has people who regularly do this or some guy did this and there was a major wrongful death suit. Either way, to think that the MTA would spend money on such an ad, for such a minor problem, is a funny thought. Someone clue me in.

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The crowd here is starting to thin out, but there are still people to meet and books to pick up. A full summary of upcoming titles will be coming in the next day or two. We never sleep around here.